ARIZONA NEWS

Cybersecurity team including students, faculty from ASU wins $2 million in international contest

Sep 9, 2024, 10:26 AM | Updated: 10:30 am

YouTube video

PHOENIX — A team of cybersecurity experts from three colleges, including Arizona State University, won a multimillion dollar jackpot at a hacking competition last month.

The 25-person team called Shellphish won a $2 million prize after making the cut as finalists in a competition at DEF CON. The world’s largest hacker convention is held in Las Vegas each year.

Shellphish is made up of cybersecurity experts at ASU, Purdue University and the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The challenge the team took part in is called the AI Cyber Challenge Semifinal Competition (AIxCC).

Forty teams in total submitted working cybersecurity systems, according to Adam Doupé, an associate professor at ASU. He’s one of Shellphish’s leaders.

“This was just the first step of the process,” Doupé told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News on Monday. “So this was the qualification round where it was open to any team to compete.”

Shellphish is one of the top seven teams that will compete in the finals next year at DEF CON, he added.

Why is this important?

Cybersecurity is one of the top safety concerns in today’s digitized world. Many hospitals have equipment that relies on computer systems connected to the internet. Additionally, many modern cars are essentially computers on wheels due to their complex inner machinery.

Even something as simple as a bug in a software update can throw a wrench in entire industries. A global tech outage in July 2024 grounded flights, knocked banks offline and jerked media outlets off air in mid-July.

That’s why the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) supports the yearly hacker convention. It wants to bolster cybersecurity professionals to ensure there’s a new crop of tech experts who can combat cyber criminals.

“They basically helped fund and research the internet,” Doupé said of DARPA. “One of the things they wanted to do is say ‘Hey, we have all these cool AI tools that people are creating, but can they be used to help people in a cybersecurity context?'”

That’s where the idea for AIxCC came from.

“I think competitions like this AI cyber challenge are ways to push the industry forward,” Doupé said.

What did the Shellphish team do to become finalists?

The team created a tool called ARTIPHISHELL for the competition. Shellphish’s automated tool checks computer programs for vulnerabilities.

“One of the things that is a little bit scary to think about is that so much of the software that we rely on day-to-day is essentially maintained by one person that they do in their free time,” Doupé said. “All it takes is one vulnerability in one of those libraries or those software that everyone uses, and this can have a massive impact, including in hospitals.”

ARTIPHISHELL is designed to help small teams of developers find issues in software they create and use.

“They can use our system and our AI tools in order to help them find vulnerabilities before the bad guys do,” Doupé said.

The prize money will help Shellphish continue working on ARTIPHISHELL. The group won $1 million in March in the first round of the contest. That money funded the early work behind their tool, as well as travel costs and practice in cybersecurity competitions.

During next year’s competition, Shellphish will compete for a $4 million prize.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Pass it along to the KTAR News team here.

Arizona News

The Maggiore Group closed The Rosticceria for good and will host a pop-up version of The Mexicano a...

Kevin Stone

The Maggiore Group shuts down The Rosticceria in Phoenix, reveals new plans

The Maggiore Group shut down The Rosticceria in Phoenix for good as the Valley restaurant operator shuffles its deck following a kitchen fire at another location.

38 minutes ago

Trump Arizona rally...

Kevin Stone

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump announces Arizona rally

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is joining the parade of national candidates to Arizona, his campaign announced Tuesday.

2 hours ago

Housing discrimination ad campaign launched on Oct. 7...

Serena O'Sullivan

Kris Mayes launches ad campaign to teach Arizona renters when they’re being discriminated against

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is launching an ad campaign to raise awareness about housing discrimination and renters' rights.

3 hours ago

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. ...

Kevin Stone

As early voting starts, presidential and VP candidates flocking to Arizona this week

As voters start receiving their early ballots, Arizona will be buzzing with visits from national candidates over the week.

7 hours ago

Wildlife eating Halloween pumpkin...

David Veenstra

Arizona wildlife officials warn about Halloween pumpkins attracting wildlife

The Arizona Game and Fish Department is warning residents that Halloween pumpkins attract wildlife.

7 hours ago

New LDS temple to be built in Queen Creek...

David Veenstra

New Latter-day Saints temple to be built in southeast Valley, will be 8th in Arizona

A new LDS temple will be built in Queen Creek, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced.

7 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Sanderson Ford

Sanderson Ford joining Arizona Diamondbacks during playoff race

The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the thick of the 2024 MLB playoff race and Sanderson Ford is going along on the ride with them.

...

Day & Night Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing

It wouldn’t hurt to get your AC checked after Arizona’s excruciating heat wave

A well-maintained air conditioning unit is vital to living a comfortable life inside, away from triple-digit heat in Arizona.

...

Midwestern University

Midwestern University Clinic visits boost student training & community health

Going to a Midwestern University Clinic can help make you feel good in more ways than one.

Cybersecurity team including students, faculty from ASU wins $2 million in international contest